September 28, 2022
Attached, please find an Emergency/Proposed Rule Making issued by NYSED today implementing the final budget provision to authorize a nurse practitioner with more than 3,600 hours of qualifying nurse practitioner experience to provide nurse practitioner services without a collaborative practice agreement with a physician or a collaborative relationship with one or more licensed physicians or an Article 28 hospital.
Also attached, please find the following Notices of Adoption issued today by OMH:
- COVID-19 Vaccination Program; and
- Telehealth Expansion. Below is a summary of this regulation:
OMH Telehealth Expansion Adopted Regulation: The proposed amendments are intended to continue to expand the opportunity to offer telehealth services in the New York State regulated mental health system. The proposed changes are also in response to recent amendments to New York State Public Health Law § 2999-cc (as amended by Chapter 124 of the Laws of 2020) which may eventually lead to more flexibility for the provision of certain Medicaid funded services using audio-only telephonic communication technology. The newly revised definition of “Telehealth” in this section provides that for the Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Plan, shall include audio only telephone communication only to the extent defined in regulations as may be promulgated by the commissioner of the Department of Health (DOH). This amendment expands the types of practitioners who can be designated or authorized by this Office to provide these services, will allow practitioners to be physically located outside the State of New York while delivering services, and provide that practitioners can deliver services remotely without first conducting an in-person evaluation. Additionally, in the revised proposed rule, an evaluation or examination required as part of an involuntary removal from the community, involuntary retention in a hospital or Assisted Outpatient Treatment order pursuant to Article 9 of the Mental Hygiene Law can be conducted via audio-visual tele mental health only.
Please let us know if you have any questions.